Tuesday 4 August 2015

Ikebana Today 38


To answer the question, "Is Ikebana art?", we need to look into the history
of Ikebana as well as that of art in the 20th century. When and how did they
interact in that century? While it is relatively easy to overview the
history of Ikebana, the history of art seems to be so chaotic.

I found contemporary art and its history are very hard to comprehend. In
particular the Japanese literature on the topic is difficult to
comprehend. Why do they have to be like that? Maybe because they are talking about something they don't really understand?

Fortunately, a number of great introductory books on contemporary art have
been recently published. I guess that many people must have felt the same
way about the literature on the contemporary art. One of the books I liked
was "Why Is That Art?" by Terry Barrett, Oxford U.P. (2012). From the
reading of the book, I will summarise the history of art briefly in the next
issue.

This small work is a good example of assembling different plant materials in
harmony. The process of making it was a true meditation. I'm going to use
this image for my free calendars for next year. Please download them for
free from my website. You can also read my articles published in Living Now
for free online. Lastly, please check the results of the Ikebana Gallery Award 2015 in my site.


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